We knew not having Haliburton would be tough on the Pacers, but nobody thought it would be this bad. Monday saw Indy lose a 5th straight game, as they fell at home to the unpredictable Hawks 108-104. Only 6 players total hit the floor for head coach Rick Carlisle, with 4 of them logging 40+ minutes. An interesting approach to a game when you have 5 or 6 players already out injured. Indy got smoked on the glass – they allowed 17 offensive rebounds to the Hawks which allowed them to take 23 more shots from the field. The three-point defense was also non-existent as Atlanta made 23 of 51 attempts from deep.
Unlike their opponent on Wednesday, the Memphis Grizzlies have been anything but a disappointment so far. After jumping out to a 6-0 start to the new season, the Grizz finally suffered their first loss on Monday, falling to the Pelicans in overtime 135-134. Despite the loss though, they shouldn’t be too unhappy about their performance, at least not on the offensive side of things. Ty Jerome continued his stellar play scoring 40 points, while rookie Cam Boozer added 18 and 9 rebounds. If there’s one negative we can point out in these first 7 games, it’s their inability to force teams into turnovers. Memphis ranks 29th in steals per game and 21st in opponent TOs per game.
It’s all about injuries and who suits up for the Pacers here. Pascal Siakam, Aaron Nesmith, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andrew Nembhard could all return after sitting out Monday’s game. Even if that is the case, they’re still without the motor of their team in Haliburton and in their last 3 games they’ve averaged just 23.7 assists per game. I’ll go with the more organized Grizzlies here.
Pacers vs Grizzlies Predictions: Grizzlies -5 available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
